Thanksgiving&TempleSquare&Invitational

So I'm laying on my bed, exhausted from finals and lonely because my roommate left last night and I realized that it was the perfect time to pop in a good movie. I don't know if you know this already, but I have a thing for movies. I absolutely love watching a good movie (especially if its a chick flick) and so when I find one that I love, I will literally watch it over and over again. I'll get stuck on a movie and watch it everyday even for like 2 weeks or so. Its crazy, but I love it.
So anyways, I decided to watch Julie & Julia. It is such a cute movie that I haven't seen in awhile so I decided it was a good choice. Well sure enough, I forgot that the movie is based a lot on Julie Powell and her blog that she writes cooking through Julia Child's cookbook. So my mind obviously goes to my blog and how I haven't written in forever. I think I was just afraid of the mega post from Thanksgiving and everything that's happened thus far. However, if I wait any longer it will be hopeless.

So here's a fair warning: This is going to be a mega post.

To start off, I have to talk about my Thanksgiving break!
It was perfect.
After debating where to spend it, Briana and I decided to road trip to Carlsbad, California to visit my dad's side of the family. It was such a blast, I can't believe we haven't been out there in so long! I loved seeing so much family that I haven't seen in SO long and getting to spend so much time with them. It was such a great experience.
The only downer was having to drive 10 hours there and 10 hours back. We switched off driving which wasn't too bad but it was basically a full days trip so that was exhausting. The scenery was beautiful in Utah and Arizona, but Nevada was pretty boring and California was only pretty at some parts. Here are some pics I managed to snap on the road and in Cali-

This is amusing to me because it's a real life plateau!! I had never seen one in real life before, isn't that crazy? You always learn the different landscapes in geography but it's not like Texas is full of them so I had just never seen one before!

Taken at the beginning of the trip obviously... By the end, I was so dead and ready to get out of that tiny car. 

Driving through scenery like this just made it so much more tolerable.

Something cool I learned while at my grandparents: I'm related to this famous silent film cowboy! His name was Art Acord and he was famous in a bunch of silent films. He even has a whole book on him! So cool.

 1st sand sculpture of the trip...
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2nd one... a little better wouldn't you say?
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BEST! Briana and I sculpted this when it was really cold and overcast. We had to keep warm somehow! Davin (my cousin's adorable son) gave him a nose which I like to identify as a birthmark. It was cute.
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We had a lot of fun in the sand... Can't you tell? 

The first day we were there, my Uncle Rick let us borrow some cruisers so we went to the beach and rode around Carlsbad. I felt pretty 90s when I tied the jacket around the waist (:  

So check out the starfishes we found on the beach! The big one is obviously a little more impressive and exciting. Either way, you wouldn't find these babies in Texas!

Taken on Thanksgiving day. Isn't she just so adorable?! This is my cousin Sydney's cute baby, Amara! 

Black Friday! Best find was getting the entire Harry Potter series for only $16! $2 a movie. <3

By the end of the night, we had so much stuff that we could barely see Briana and April in the back! I would say we were pretty successful. 

Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was getting to visit the gorgeous San Diego temple! Briana and I got the chance to do baptisms inside and it was just gorgeous. I hope I get to back someday. 

So that pretty much sums up our trip to California! It was amazing and I can't wait to go back someday (:

Well anyways, what else has been happening in my life?
My ward took a trip to temple square at the beginning of the month in Salt Lake and that was amazing. Temple square is gorgeous covered in christmas lights!

So besides temple square, we had a pretty sick dance the other week and it was so much fun! It was an Invitational and Jordan and I went with a big group from our ward. We didn't know what to expect (because Cannon center dances are usually pretty lame), but it was actually way better than expected. It was nice to have a fun night and take a break from the stress of upcoming finals.

Our dates! 

So this sunday was our last sunday meeting as a ward for the semester. It was way sad because we had to say goodbye to a few people leaving on missions.

Jason! He's heading off the Washington D.C. He's pretty much the coolest guy
I've ever met so he will definitely be missed.  

Quinten! He's heading off to Madrid, Spain. He's hilarious and can steal anything from someone without them noticing, it's incredible! haha he's stolen my phone more than once, so I can testify to his thieving skills. 

So that's about it folks! Sorry for the plethora of pictures, but I feel like most people like to look at pictures rather than read a really long paragraph.

Only one more final to go: Statistics. 

Countdown to Texas: 4 days. 

I can do it! 

Laugh of the Day: 

So the other day, it snowed, then rained, then snowed again. Do you know what that means? Ice. Everywhere. So I was on campus working on a group project with my two friends Matt & Kevin. We were at the crosswalk at the top of freshman hill and they're joking around and taking bets on when I would slip on the hill. I'm like the clumsiest person ever so I mean it was a definitely good chance I would slip. Well anyways, I'm just kind of putting up with the teasing and was just like, "yall are so funny (not)" and determined now to prove them wrong by not slipping. However, when we get to the top, we see that the whole top of the hill is just glazed over with ice. I honestly didn't know how I was going to make it. So we start walking and I'm concentrating really hard to keep from losing it, but sure enough I start sliding. I was even doing anything! I mean, it was straight ice. Like I could've ice skated on it. So of course, I try to control the sliding and whoosh, I fall straight on my butt. I, of course, started dying of laughter, Kevin lost it, and Matt is laughing really hard but at the same time he is trying to help me up and see if I'm okay. It was just great. Luckily the rest of the hill seemed okay but I avoided it for the rest of the day after that. 

So there you have it! My first fall (and certainly not the last) in Utah. 

Documented for me to always go back and read. YES. 

Just4Laughs

I literally can't stop laughing.

Laugh of the Day: 

So something that I still can't understand at BYU is just how many people sleep EVERYWHERE on campus. I just find it hilarious and consider it an acquired skill to creeper shot some of the hilarious ones and instagram or submit it to asleepatbyu.tumblr.com. 

So anyways, please enjoy these photos. I literally have been dying laughing as I try to entertain myself in Statistics. 

No comment necessary. #cantstoplaughing

Just resting after destroying all life on earth. #nbd #lolz

Happy Friday! 

Snow&Snow&Snow

So this is probably a few days too late but oh well.
Either way, it seems that winter is upon us. At least the first major snow. It snowed for 2 days last weekend and now its just freezing outside (especially at night) and there is still a bunch of snow on the ground. I'm sure it might end up melting all the way by tomorrow or friday (at least I hope), but this is Utah and the weather just does whatever it wants. In the meantime, enjoy some beautiful pictures I snapped while on campus.

Oh the irony...

View from the window! 

Basically there's snow everywhere!
I will say that while I hate the cold, Utah makes it look so pretty! I enjoy the beautiful scenery and I feel like I'm walking in a winter wonderland, but I can't get over the constant shivering and always being freezing! It's probably from the lack of good winter clothes (Texan here remember?), but oh well. I guess I'll have to get used to snow!

On other news, saturday was our last home football game! This is sad not only because football season is almost over but because it's my last football game for like 2 years! It doesn't seem real that I could be going anywhere in the world in just 6 months. Crazy. Not only could I be going anywhere, but I'll be gone for 18 months. 18 months! That's a long time. So much could happen while I'm gone and that actually scares me a lot. What if my Briana gets married? Or Ashley has a baby? Or even Jordan could get married! (If she doesn't go on one too) I don't want to miss that kind of stuff! But I know that it'll be worth it. It'll all be okay... right?
Sure, we'll go with it.
But I've digressed.

So anyways, my last game was FREEZING and we actually didn't even stay the whole game. Whoops. I guess we just didn't want to freeze.

Wearing my extremely warm coat my mom got me for christmas! #loveit

We almost ate it like a gazillion times because it was SO slippery!!

4 days! 

That's the countdown until we hopefully leave for Oceanside, Cali! Briana and I are spending Thanksgiving with our dad's side of the family in California. I'm so excited because school has been so stressful lately and it'll be good to get away and relax for awhile. I'm mostly excited though to see my grandparents because this could be the last time until after my mission. 

We're leaving on Monday early in the morning and roadtripping it straight to Oceanside. It should be quite the adventure because it's like a 12 hour drive. Needless to say, we'll be stocking up on snacks and caffeine to keep us awake and fully alert. Wish us luck! 

Laugh of the Day:

So the other day Jordan and I were walking to the RB (Richards Building where all the gyms are) to practice volleyball with a few people from our team. We were walking on the sidewalk right outside of our dorm when a huge pile of snow falls off of a tree hanging over the sidewalk and straight on Jordan's head! I'm sure you can guess what came next: uncontrollable and hysterical laughter. Falling snow is a completely foreign idea to us Texans and so we were both just kind of shocked and like what the heck? Jordan didn't think it was too funny but I could NOT stop laughing. Like what are the odds?! I got a good laugh in despite Jordan's increasing anger that I was enjoying this experience so much. 

So basically beware of falling snow when walking in Utah. Who knew?! 

Halloween&Allergies&SisterTaylor

Halloween.

Probably one of the greatest holidays. I've always enjoyed dressing up in the most unique costumes and getting into it- especially my best friend Jordan. Ever since we found each other in our awkward and weird middle school stage in 6th grade, we've been inseparable. I've had so many good times with this girl, let me tell you. We're crazy, we're loud, we're funny (hilarious actually), we're weird, we're smart, we're crafty, we can be deep, and we're pretty much the best best friends you'll ever find! 

Well anyways, every year for halloween, we always try to dress up in some kind of super cool and unique costume. When typing this post, I totally decided to dig up all of our great halloweens over the past couple of years so please enjoy our amazing minds at work- 

2006- Washer & Dryer. Yes, we were chubsters. Yes, our candy went inside of our appliance. Yes, I still have mine.

2007- I couldn't find a picture of both us but we
were Mix & Match. Jordan was the matching one. 

2008- Birds. LOOK, WE HAD WINGS. #socool 

2010- We dressed up like our guy friends
Austin & Cole. Quite entertaining actually. 

2009- Meg & a Muse from Hercules. We
actually had a whole group and it was way fun. 

We were lame and failed in 2011.. and if we did dress up, I dont remember it all. Which is weird.

And now wait for it.....

HALLOWEEN 2012 

TMNT BABY. <3

We went to our ward party the night before Halloween and everyone was totally jealous, I know it. On the night of Halloween, we went trick or treating in a nearby neighborhood (never too old), watched Matt's intramural soccer game, and then headed over to the RA Thriller dance-off at the cannon. When we were trick or treating, it was getting close to when we had to leave to get to Matt's game (because he went with us) and so we were heading down our last street without planning on stopping at anymore houses. However, we spotted this decked out yard with people sitting around a fire in the front yard and Josh really wanted to go, so we thought we would just take one more stop. It couldn't take more than like 3 minutes right? Well we walked up and there is this elderly lady sitting around the fire and she tells all of us to sit down on the stumps surrounding the fire. She explains that she tells stories and that she wants to share one with us. Automatically, Lindsay and I let out a little chuckle because we actually were in a hurry, but we couldn't just deny her story so we complied. Well she begins her story (which was creepy because the fire kept crackling at all the right times and I was so jumpy) and 20 minutes later we ended up speeding off to Matt's game. 

After the game, we decided to check out the RA Thriller dance off. Let me just say that it was like the scariest thing ever. Some of the RA's get way into it (which mine of course did) and I definitely am still afraid to sleep down the hall from mine. Pretty hilarious but also kind of scary... 

Overall, I would say Halloween 2012 was a pretty successful night.

So remember all of my allergy problems? Well I got tested and the results are in! Curious at all? Well here's the list of everything that came out with positive allergies- 

1. Mountain Cedar & Mulberry Tree

2. Aspergillus, Epicoccum, Hormo, and Penicillium Molds

3. Timothy, Johnson, Bermuda, and Alfalfa Grasses 

4. Feathers 

5. Sheep Sorrel, E. Plantain, and Sage Brush Weeds 

So basically, it's nice to know everything I'm allergic to but there's nothing I can really do about the environmental allergies. I'm devastated about my feather allergy though because I have a super comfortable down comforter and pillow that I now need to get rid of. :(

The actual testing wasn't so bad besides all the needles and what not. 

I snapped a shot while the nurse was getting them ready ---> 

I also got a picture of my forearm and upper arm (sorry, its kind of gross but I had to)

  

<-- They basically pricked both of my forearms, and if it reacted, I'm allergic to it.

On my upper --> arm, she injected with a needle everything that didn't react from the pricks to see if it got a reaction in the skin. You can see that I got most of my reactions on my upper arm.

So where do we go from here? Well I have an appointment on Tuesday to see what my options are but I pretty much know that it's either to start Immunotherapy or to wait (because a mission puts a hold on the Immunotherapy). Well seeing as I was still way confused on whether or not to go on a mission, I knew that I had to make a decision by my appointment on Tuesday. 

This was scary to me because I was still really unsure and was scared to commit to a decision. 

Well I fasted on Friday to not necessarily come up with an answer yet, but to get a better idea of what would be best for me. At least, this is what I started out the day fasting for. In the end, I really just prayed and fasted for my former classmate from Cy-Woods, Taylor Cline. She was in a coma after she had a clot in her brain and had to go into surgery. Taylor was one of the sweetest girls I've ever met and I never saw her without a smile on her face. I couldn't imagine that she could pass away so young, but after fasting and praying all day, I got an answer that it was her time to come home. This was hard for me to hear, and it broke my heart to even think about. But sure enough, she passed away the next morning. She was a talented musician, a good friend, a beautiful woman, a smart scholar, and she will be missed.

While I thought I wouldn't receive any inspiration on whether or not I should go on a mission, I ended up getting what I needed when talking with my friends Alisa and Charlie late that night. We were talking about missions and missionaries and I just got this feeling that everything would be alright. I knew that it would make me so happy to share the gospel and that I would never be alone. I felt like serving a mission would be one of the best things I would ever experience. 

And while I got these good feelings, I knew that I still wasn't 100% sure about what I should do. 

Sunday came and so I fasted again to know of what path I should take. Sure enough, as the day progressed and I went to church, spent some time looking up missionary application procedures, and went to tunnel singing, I just got this overwhelming, growing feeling that I needed to serve a mission. All of my good feelings turned to confidence in what I needed to do and I began to feel this bursting joy and excitement within me that I've never felt before. 

Therefore, I can now proudly say that about mid-June, you can call me Sister Taylor for I will be serving the Lord in whichever country or state he sends me. I'm so grateful for the power of fasting and prayer and that I can receive answers to my prayers. I know that serving a mission is the right path for me and that sharing the gospel will bring me such incredible happiness. I am so insanely excited for my future and I can't wait to see what He has in store for me. 

Laugh of the Day: 

My nasty bruise! Please laugh at the progression of this battle wound. I don't know if laughing is the correction emotion, but I find it pretty entertaining.

Vein vs. Needle. Needle won.